1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical spinal procedures, and particularly to a biodegradable kyphoplasty balloon system for performing kyphoplasty on a fractured vertebra.
2. Description of the Related Art
Kyphoplasty is a medical spinal procedure in which bone cement is injected through a small hole in the skin (i.e., percutaneously) into a fractured vertebra with the goal of relieving back pain caused by vertebral compression fractures. Specifically, kyphoplasty is a variation of a vertebroplasty which attempts to restore the height and angle of kyphosis of a fractured vertebra (of certain types), followed by its stabilization using injected bone cement. The procedure typically includes the use of a small balloon that is inflated in the vertebral body to create a void within the cancellous bone prior to cement delivery. In typical kyphoplasty, once the void is created, the procedure continues in a similar manner as a vertebroplasty, but the bone cement is delivered directly into the newly created void.
Due to the direct filling of the vertebral body with the bone cement in conventional kyphoplasty, there are risks of leakage of acrylic cement to outside of the vertebral body. Although severe complications are extremely rare, infection, bleeding, numbness, tingling, headache, and paralysis may ensue because of misplacement of the needle or cement. Thus, a biodegradable kyphoplasty balloon system addressing the aforementioned problems is desired.